The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for assembling various components to make an assembled product in an automatic procedure with a tape member.
A conventional component assembling apparatus includes a plurality of assembling stations aligned along an assembly line which comprises a conveyor(s) equipped with multiple assembling jigs. Each assembling station comprises assembly robots for supplying and mounting components in the assembling jigs and component feeders for feeding components to the assembly robots. Assembled products are transferred by robots from the assembling jigs to a holder or a receiver provided on a tray or a tape-like member which is in turn conveyed to a succeeding step of the assembly line.
However, such conventional component assembling apparatus is bulky and elaborate in construction as it uses a full-scale assembly line with conveyors, and thus causes increase in the cost of installation. Also, there is an extra step required for conveying the assembled products on the assembly line to the tape-like member. This, added with the process of feeding the assembled products to a next step, increases the number of assembling steps and the overall cost of the assembling process.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for assembling components by which a product can be assembled with a simple construction and the cost of assembling process can be reduced.
The method of assembling components according to a first feature of the present invention is characterized in that a tape-like member having a multiplicity of holding recesses which are capable of holding assembled products therein is used as an assembling medium as well as a feeding medium of a product, since a component is fed into each of the holding recesses of the tape-like member and assembled into the product within each of the holding recesses, by which the structure of the assembling apparatus is simplified and the number of assembling steps is reduced, thereby decreasing the overall cost of the assembling process.
In the first feature of the invention, if a base component of the product is loaded in the holding recess of the tape-like member in advance, the tape-like member can also serve as the component feeding means, by which the construction of the component assembling apparatus can be made even simpler.
Further, by feeding various components into each of the plurality of holding recesses at their respective stopping position while moving the tape-like member intermittently and assembling them into a product, the product can be assembled in succession as the tape-like member moves, as well as the step of feeding and assembling each component can be simplified, whereby a product can be assembled efficiently with a simple structure.
The component assembling apparatus according to a second feature of the present invention comprises a tape-like member provided with a multiplicity of holding recesses which are capable of holding assembled products therein; a tape conveying means for intermittently transferring the tape-like member along a predetermined conveying path; and a plurality of component feeding and assembling means for supplying a set of components into each of the holding recesses at a stopping position of the holding recesses along the conveying path and for assembling the components into the product within each of the holding recesses, by which the above method of assembling the components is implemented.
When carrying out the method, if the component feeding and assembling means is constructed with a component transferring and assembling means and a component feeder, the component transferring and assembling means can be arranged to be movable in two axes with a simple structure, and any of conventional component feeding means can be employed, hence reducing the cost. Also, if the component feeder is comprised of a tape-like component feeding means which takes out a component from a tape-like component carrying assembly in which a multiplicity of components are accommodated, the components to be assembled can be supplied by the tape-like member, and the assembled products can be fed to the next step as held on the tape-like member, by which the standardization and unity of the assembling process becomes possible and an even simpler assembling step can be realized.
Further, by providing a construction such that a given one of the component feeding and assembling means is provided with a plurality of detachable component feeders in such a way that the component transferring and assembling means can take out a component selectively from any of the component feeders for feeding, even when one of the component feeders runs out of components, the component can be fed from the other component feeders without stopping and thus continuously performing the assembling operation, and continuous production is made possible by exchanging the component feeder which has run out of components. In this case, the component feeding and assembling means can be simply constituted by constructing it with a single component transferring and assembling means, a plurality of component feeders, and a switching means, whereby the position of each of the component feeders is switched over so that the component can be fed from any given one of the component feeders to the single component transferring and assembling means.
The method of assembling components according to a third feature of the present invention comprises the steps of: taking out a component successively from a plurality of component feeders which supply a multiplicity of components to a component feeding position in succession; transferring the component successively to a predetermined assembling position where the component is assembled into a product; and transferring the assembled product into each of a multiplicity of holding recesses provided in a product storing means to be held therein. Alternatively, the component is taken out and transferred consecutively into each of a multiplicity of holding recesses formed in the product storing means, each holding recess being positioned at an assembling position, and the assembled product is kept to be held in the holding recess. Since the component is fed by the component feeder to the component feeding position, the transferring and assembling robot may be provided in singular, by which a product can be assembled efficiently with a compact structure, as well as the product can be fed to the next step in a state held in the holding recess of the product storing means.
In the third feature of the invention, if the component feeding position of all the component feeders, the assembling position, and product receiving position at the holding recesses of the product storing means are all aligned in one straight line, so that the components and the products are transferred along only one axis between each of these positions, or if the component feeding position of the component feeders and the assembling position at the holding recesses of the product storing means are all aligned in one straight line, so that the components are transferred only along one axis between each of these positions, a transferring and assembling robot of one-axis movable structure can be employed, thereby further simplifying the structure of the component assembling apparatus.
The apparatus for assembling components according to a fourth feature of the present invention comprises a plurality of component feeders for successively supplying a multiplicity of components to a component feeding position; an assembling base provided with an assembling jig to assemble a product; a product storing means having a multiplicity of holding recesses for holding an assembled product, each of the holding recesses being consecutively positioned at a predetermined product receiving position, and a transferring and assembling robot which takes out the component at the component feeding position of the component feeder, transfers the component to the assembling base to assemble the component into the product, and conveys the assembled product into the holding recess positioned at the product receiving position of the product storing means, or alternatively comprises a transferring and assembling robot which takes out and transfers a component into the holding recess positioned at the assembling position of the product storing means and assembles the component into the product within the holding recess, the assembling base being omitted, by which the above method of assembling components can be implemented.